![]() Sunglasses would then hide the obvious visual scrutiny they would be giving to the cards around the table, studying to see if they can locate their marks. The other method most employed by cheaters at the poker table would be to mark the cards physically by bending, denting, or cutting a small section of the cards. Physically marking cards to cheat Banning sunglasses wouldn’t eliminate physical cheating with cards as offenders can still try to mark or deface them Cheaters have tried this technique and, fortunately, are usually caught as far as we know. Negreanu correctly replied that sunglasses specifically provide cover to a cheaters’ eyes so they aren’t spotted scrutinizing the cards, which would raise plenty of attention if done with contacts. Why make it easy for cheats?ĭaniel Negreanu got a lot of replies to the above tweet saying that specialized contact lenses would provide the same ability to spot marked cards, so (tongue in cheek) should those be banned as well? The most commonly used legal cheating device in poker? Sunglasses. The substance would be invisible or very difficult to see by dealers or the rest of the table but show up to the cheater through those special sunglasses. The most likely use of sunglasses for cheating would be a foreign ink or substance that could be placed on hole cards each hand. ![]() ![]() This is more of an exotic, and very unlikely, use of sunglasses but as the recent 2015 WSOP event controversy showed the potential for cheating exists. Should that alone be enough to ban sunglasses at the poker table entirely? How can sunglasses enable cheating? It’s likely that most opponents wouldn’t know how to use those tells against their eye-shaded counterparts but hiding any body part that is used to communicate non-verbal body language so well can only be thought of as an advantage. Players hidden by sunglasses can stare at will and cover up possible tells given by the eyes. It allows players to hide a part of their bodies they would normally have to control as part of a “poker face”. Sunglasses do give players an advantage – that is indisputable. How do sunglasses help poker players? Chris Ferguson is one of the few poker pros to wear sunglasses regularly at the tables. Regardless, it’s made banning sunglasses into an interesting discussion point in the poker world. Player suspicions prompted an investigation by WSOP officials, but no card alterations were found or they weren’t announced publicly if they were found. Other players at the final table alleged that Valeriu Coca was using some sort of method for marking cards and possibly viewing those marks through a special pair of sunglasses.Īnother cheating method this player was discovered to have used previously is making minute cuts or bends in Kings and Aces to keep track of them. This issue came into focus again thanks to this controversy at the 2015 WSOP $10,000 Heads-up event. Sunglasses give beginners some confidence and if players want to block the little light available in a dark cardroom and potentially misread their hand who cares?īut is it that simple? Can players use them as cheating devices? And, more importantly, should poker rooms and tournament directors start to ban sunglasses? Sunglasses used to cheat at the 2015 WSOP? I largely blame Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP win for the explosion of sunglasses in poker Some of the most-exposed pros on TV during that era had sunglasses attached to their faces at all times: Chris Moneymaker, Phil Hellmuth, and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to name a few. There seems to be a player or two at every live table wearing them, largely stemming from the trend of the poker explosion in the early and mid-2000s. It’s a part of the game that we all take for granted these days. Poker players wearing sunglasses at the table. Scandal: Should Sunglasses Be Banned at Poker Tables? Sunglasses can provide for competitive advantage and, rarely, cheating. ![]()
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